Category Archives: Cockettes

What people are saying about “Caravan to Oz” – photographer Dan Nicoletta

What people are saying about “Caravan to Oz” – photographer Dan Nicoletta

Angels of LightHibiscus aka George Harris III in “Femme Fatale -The Shocking Pink Life of Jayne Champagne” Photo by Dan Nicoletta c 1976

Talented photographer and friend Dan Nicoletta had this to say about “Caravan to Oz”

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Caravan To Oz – an essential text on theatre history and LGBT history….,November 8, 2014
This review is from: Caravan to Oz: A family reinvents itself off-off-Broadway (Paperback)
This is a treasure trove of theatre and LGBT history. The legendary Harris Family are a significant vessel for understanding the turbulent social changes of the seminal off off broadway era as well as the west coast independent theatre and film and music scenes of the 60’s through the 80’s. But until now, so much about the family had remained a mystery. Those of us in the know and who appreciated the gravity of their legacy longed for a more in depth remembrance of what actually did occur and who the players were in this legendary family that swirled in and around LaMama Theatre and Cafe Cino and Hibiscus who co-founded the Cockettes as well as The Angels of Light theatre companies. (west and east coast troupes)… and now thankfully we have a definitive primary source text that is lovingly and brilliantly crafted collectively by the surviving family members. The book is chock full of meticulous archival material for the history geek in all of us, but is also a heart wrenching personal remembrance as the latter day Harris’s collectively excavate their whirlwind lives. The book and the family are GOLDEN… a joy to read… tons of amazing pictures… I am completely ferklempt about this one… been waiting a long time for something like this to come along…. Hibiscus was always so sweet to me the few times we met… no wonder… his family is lovely to get to know a little through their wonderful memoir….

 

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Flower Power blooms 47 years ago as George Harris III answers guns with peaceful flowers

Flower Power blooms 47 years ago as George Harris III answers guns with peaceful flowers

Photo: Bernie Boston/RIT Archive Collections. Rochester Institute of Technology

Flower_Power002a_docOn October 21, 1967 – Bernie Boston’s photo of the brave, peace-loving teenager in a turtleneck sweater putting flowers into the gun barrels of military police went far beyond being a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize. This iconic moment became the origin of “Flower Power,” the most popular anti-war catchphrase of the 1960s. Mr. Boston told Alice Ashe of Curio magazine in 2005, “I saw the troops march down into the sea of people, and I was ready for it. One soldier lost his rifle. Another lost his helmet. The rest had their guns pointed out into the crowd, when all of a sudden a young hippie stepped out in front of the action with a bunch of flowers in his left hand. With his right hand he began placing the flowers into the barrels of the soldiers’ guns. ‘He came out of nowhere,’ says Boston, ‘and it took me years to find out who he was . . . his name was Harris.'”

“Harris” was George Harris III, at 18 years of age, whose life’s work was an example of Flower Power and free expression. George went on to rename himself “Hibiscus” and created powerful new forms of theater and political expression around the world. He passed away from AIDS in 1982 at the age of 32. His life story is recounted in ‘Caravan to Oz: a family reinvents itself off-off-Broadway,’ a memoir written by his family. www.caravantooz.com

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Judson Poets Theater

Judson Poets Theater

RUMI

 

Mary Lou Harris and original Cockette, Rumi Missabu, resplendent from head to toe wearing Machine Dazzle Flower at Judson Memorial Church for Keeping the Tigers Away & The Blue Hour. Dedicated to the memory of Mario Montez, Marsha P. Johnson and Hibiscus aka George Harris III.  Mary Lou brought along the Harris family memoir, Caravan to Oz: a family reinvents itself off-off-Broadway. Judson Poets Theater was one of our Off Off Broadway homes.

Judson Arts Wednesdays

Judson Memorial Church – 2014

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